This invention relates to toaster ovens for household use but aspects of this invention may be useful in connection with other heating appliances.
Under-the-cabinet (UTC) toaster ovens are intended to be suspended from the bottom of a kitchen cabinet but may be stored or used on a kitchen counter instead of under a cabinet. UTC toaster ovens often have features, such as channels or recesses, that are clearly visible when not mounted under kitchen cabinet and that detract from the appearance of the toaster oven used on a counter. In addition, the mounting arrangements for toaster ovens often require catches or stops which hold the toaster ovens on the cabinet mounting hardware which are not easy to install and do not enable the toaster ovens to be easily removed if needed for repair of cleaning of the toaster oven or cleaning or painting of the kitchen wall behind the cabinet-mounted toaster oven. There is an ever-present need to improve upon the design of UTC toaster ovens and upon the manner in which UTC toaster ovens can be mounted under kitchen cabinets.
Toaster ovens are made from numerous components and are, therefore, relatively expensive to manufacture and there is also a constant need to reduce the cost of manufacturing toaster ovens.
Toaster ovens are often provided with plastic side and top walls which are cool to the touch. These are known as xe2x80x9ccoolwallxe2x80x9d toaster ovens. A problem encountered with coolwall toaster ovens is that, during storage or shipping, the top wall can become separated from the side walls if a downward force is applied to the top wall.
Toaster ovens often have a pivotally-mounted bottom panel which can be pivoted downwardly to enable the upper surface of the bottom panel to be cleaned. This is not entirely satisfactory because cleaning of the bottom panel can create a mess because crumbs or other cooking debris can fall off the bottom panel when it is pivoted open.
An object of this invention is to provide an improved UTC toaster oven and a mounting arrangement therefor which is easy to install and easy to use. A related object of this invention is to provide UTC toaster oven and a mounting arrangement which does not detract from the appearance of the toaster oven when the toaster oven is placed on a kitchen counter instead of being mounted under a cabinet.
Another object of this invention is to provide an improved coolwall toaster oven. A related object is to provide an improved arrangement for mounting a coolwall toaster oven beneath a kitchen cabinet.
Another object of this invention is to reduce the cost of manufacturing toaster ovens. A more specific object of this invention is to provide a toaster oven which can be assembled using a minimum of parts and manufacturing operations.
Another object of this invention is to provide improved controls for a toaster oven enabling it to be used in toast and oven modes and also to be used in a broil mode.
Another object of this invention is to provide an improved heat sensor for use in controlling the operation of a toaster oven.
Other objects and advantages will become apparent from the drawings and the description and claims that follow.